Busmiles

[mak47]

Hello everyone, I'd like to show you a project I've been working on since June last year.

Busmiles is a website designed for bus enthusiasts to log which services and buses you've been on.
The system integrates with Bustimes, meaning it also logs which liveries and even the type of vehicle you've been on!
Everything you log will be available on your own "Buslog" which you share depending on your privacy settings.

Here are some screenshots:




I encourage you to have a look at my buslog here as I can't screenshot every feature.

Pre-registration will begin on the 5th, which will allow you to set up your account before the launch.

If you have any questions, feel free to respond to this thread or via discord.

Thanks,
Mak47

Busmiles will be released on the 12th of April.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I can endorse and say how useful this site is for keeping track.

 

[Aictos]

A good idea, looks to be a very useful tool.

 

[Cambus731]

looks good

 

[221129]

I've just tried it and it seems too fiddly to add journeys. On local city routes with a turn up and go service I'll have no idea on the scheduled time of my bus, it doesn't recognize common stop names so need to waste time with using the map. Also it isn't obvious how you add the vehicle details (unless this is a paid only feature?)

Does it improve if you pay for it? As it stands it feels like it would be a waste of money.

 

[richw]

My regular service doesn’t appear for either direction start point, but appears in the first village each way!
the mileage is also considerably lower than the real mileage.
It is however a useful resource for rough information and a friendly competition amongst friends

 

[markymark2000]

I've just tried it and it seems too fiddly to add journeys. On local city routes with a turn up and go service I'll have no idea on the scheduled time of my bus, it doesn't recognize common stop names so need to waste time with using the map. Also it isn't obvious how you add the vehicle details (unless this is a paid only feature?)

Does it improve if you pay for it? As it stands it feels like it would be a waste of money.

Yo add vehicle details, click 'add bus ID' and then input the reg or bus number. I guess if you are on a bus which is so regular, maybe use bustimes.org to find the relevant bus and then find the scheduled departure time. To be fair, for now as it doesn't automatically pick up the bus allocation so you could just simply pick the closest departure (of the right route number) and then put in your bus details. So long as the bus goes the same way as you did, the milage should be no different.


I believe if you pay, you basically get to add non scheduled services (if you got on a bus running dead or a rail replacement bus)

the mileage is also considerably lower than the real mileage.

It's based off as the crow flies isn't it though rather than actual driving distance so it's understandable why it may show up different. It will show up more on the longer distance journeys

 

[221129]

Yo add vehicle details, click 'add bus ID' and then input the reg or bus number.

Ah Fair enough, Thanks for that!

 

[richw]

find the scheduled departure time

I know the scheduled departure time. I drive the route, and have the same vehicle every day, hence knowing the actual mileage too as I fill my start and end mileage in on paperwork. My allocated vehicle doesn’t track on bus times.
The route is 49 miles each way, bus miles records it as 37.

 

[221129]

My allocated vehicle doesn’t track on bus times.

I found that BusMiles doesn't recognise one of my usual routes at all! Even though Bus Times does.

 

[richw]

I found that BusMiles doesn't recognise one of my usual routes at all! Even though Bus Times does.

It recognises it from the first village to the penultimate village but doesn’t show at either terminus

 

[ACBest]

I’ve signed up, and first impressions are that it is really good! I can only really echo what everyone else is saying about the issue with it calculating things as the crow flies - if anything can be changed at all to allow the proper routing of each service to be defined, that would be fab and would yield much more accurate mileage figures.

Also, for drivers in particular, entering dead runs is a pain, as bus depots aren’t necessarily near bus stops.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

A really good and useful site, I must say! I've been using it now for about a week to log my journeys and keep a nice record of the different places I've been. The only issue is - and I'm probably just being really blind and stupid here - but is there a way to view all of your previous journeys, as opposed to just the last five?

 

[markymark2000]

A really good and useful site, I must say! I've been using it now for about a week to log my journeys and keep a nice record of the different places I've been. The only issue is - and I'm probably just being really blind and stupid here - but is there a way to view all of your previous journeys, as opposed to just the last five?

I think you have to do daily stats and do it day by day. I can't seem to find a way to do a never ending list.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

I think you have to do daily stats and do it day by day. I can't seem to find a way to do a never ending list.

Thanks, found it. I suppose that's better than nothing (at least all of those journeys haven't been lost!) If a long list of all previous journeys isn't currently a feature, however, it would be really useful to have as an update, perhaps?

 

[burns20]

Doesn't work for most of Lloyds Coaches services nor Transdev in Lancashire or Yorkshire

 

[mak47]

I found that BusMiles doesn't recognise one of my usual routes at all! Even though Bus Times does.

Doesn't work for most of Lloyds Coaches services nor Transdev in Lancashire or Yorkshire

Hi there,

If a service is on bustimes and is not showing on Busmiles, I'd really appreciate a bug report so I can investigate the issue.
If you email it to [email protected] and include the bustimes.org stop URL that would be great.

Thanks, found it. I suppose that's better than nothing (at least all of those journeys haven't been lost!) If a long list of all previous journeys isn't currently a feature, however, it would be really useful to have as an update, perhaps?

You can get a list of all journeys from 1 operator at the moment. See this for an example.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

You can get a list of all journeys from 1 operator at the moment. See this for an example.

Ah, excellent. Thanks.

 

[221129]

And now it won't show a significant number of services from my usual stop that were showing previously.

 

[richw]

And now it won't show a significant number of services from my usual stop that were showing previously.

I’ve found where an operator has posted a future timetable online it’s removed all the existing journeys.

 

[221129]

I’ve found where an operator has posted a future timetable online it’s removed all the existing journeys.

Think i'll just not bother with this then. Which is a shame as the concept is really good.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Most of the issues don't seem to be stemming from busmiles, but mostly bustimes as that is where the site receives the data from I believe.

 

[221129]

Most of the issues don't seem to be stemming from busmiles, but mostly bustimes as that is where the site receives the data from I believe.

Not sure how you can say that when in both instances the journies show correctly on bustimes.

 

[LordCreed]

I've been using this the past few days, and it's not a bad tool. However, there's a few (mostly UI things) that I think could be improved on:

- The Bus Stop Name field could do with being a typeable drop down. This way you could guarantee that the stop name matches exactly what the database is.
- Bus Station bays could probably do with being grouped together. It would be much easier to find the departure as opposed to having to hunt through the bays until you find one.
- Ability to view all journeys in one massive table.
- When on the daily stats page, it would be nice if the calendar showed days with services logged (so these days would be highlighted etc).

 

[borage]

I’ve found where an operator has posted a future timetable online it’s removed all the existing journeys.

You might be referring to an unusual issue with First Kernow deleting most of their current timetables from BODS (the Bus Open Data Service) when they uploaded their future (16 May) timetables.

 

[mak47]

Not sure how you can say that when in both instances the journies show correctly on bustimes.

Hi there,

The Bustimes feed can sometimes have a few minor glitches (Particularly night services). This is usually the case as that page on Busmiles doesn't have many things that can go wrong on that page.
If you haven't already, please email me at [email protected] with a few details to see if I can report and trace the issue, thanks!

I've been using this the past few days, and it's not a bad tool. However, there's a few (mostly UI things) that I think could be improved on:

- The Bus Stop Name field could do with being a typeable drop down. This way you could guarantee that the stop name matches exactly what the database is.
- Bus Station bays could probably do with being grouped together. It would be much easier to find the departure as opposed to having to hunt through the bays until you find one.
- Ability to view all journeys in one massive table.
- When on the daily stats page, it would be nice if the calendar showed days with services logged (so these days would be highlighted etc).

- The Bus Stop Name field could do with being a typeable drop down.

The search function isn't where I'd like it to be right now. I will most likely re-work the entire system to make it far more accurate. I suggest using your location/map in the meantime as it's a lot easier to work with.

As for the other suggestions, they're on the (surprisingly large) list of things to do/fix, thanks for your feedback!

 

[theblackwatch]

The system integrates with Bustimes, meaning it also logs which liveries and even the type of vehicle you've been on!

Something you need to consider - will it be able to cope with re-registrations? One of my local companies has used the same plate on several vehicles - in fact, 2 of the buses on my local route have gained new reg marks in the past 48 hours or so (and bustimes is currently logging them as if the 'old' buses that previously carried these plates have reappeared).

 

[mak47]

Something you need to consider - will it be able to cope with re-registrations? One of my local companies has used the same plate on several vehicles - in fact, 2 of the buses on my local route have gained new reg marks in the past 48 hours or so (and bustimes is currently logging them as if the 'old' buses that previously carried these plates have reappeared).

I wasn't actually aware any operators did this, I'm not actually sure how I'd separate it. It might be best to mark it down as a different number/reg and then add the livery/details using the "Add manual bustimes ID" button.

Update 2.15 has released!

Fixed many bugs
Added Flickr images for individual vehicles
Added Bus League
Added a map to daily stats
Added dark mode (beta)
Added platinum stars to daily stats
Added Discord integration (Doesn't do anything yet)
Added new forum signatures (Updates daily)
Added Flickr images for individual vehicles

See underneath for the new dynamic bus graphic, there's the BBcode to add this to your own on the settings page.